Zcash in 2026: what a shielded payment protects, and what still matters
Shielded transactions, Unified Addresses and the difference between protocol privacy and wallet behaviour.
5 min readITNWS / News
News
All ITNWS stories about CPUs, GPUs, motherboards, memory, SSDs, HDDs, cooling, power, cases and peripherals, plus selected cryptocurrencies.
LPCAMM2 brings replaceable memory to thin laptops — with compatibility limits
LPDDR no longer has to mean soldered memory. A practical explanation of LPCAMM2, compatibility checks and the value of a laptop memory upgrade.
5 min read
Why memory prices are rising in autumn 2026 — and what the forecast actually means
DRAM contract prices remain under pressure. We explain server demand, the lag in retail pricing and a practical way to assess a PC upgrade.
5 min read
Power, case and cooling: the components that make a PC build work
How to coordinate the motherboard, graphics card, power supply and airflow without assembling a collection of incompatible parts.
5 min read
SSDs in 2026: AI is reshaping the market, but headline bandwidth is not everything
Enterprise demand supports pricing while PCIe 6.0 advances in servers. What that means for a home SSD and how to read its specifications.
5 min read
TLC or QLC: choose an SSD for the workload, not three letters
Bits per cell are only part of the picture. A practical guide to sustained writes, endurance, utilisation and independent backups.
5 min read
Nodes, mining and farming: different hardware roles in Zcash and Chia
A full node validates rules; finding a block is a separate job. Understanding software roles and reliable operation.
5 min read
Chia ahead of Proof of Space 2.0: an autumn 2026 readiness check
The transition concerns consensus rules, software and plot format. Reading the official schedule and planning maintenance without rushing to replot.
5 min read
CPUs in 2026: why cache and the platform matter as much as clock speed
Using Ryzen X3D as an example, we explain cache, the limits of gaming comparisons and the relationship between a CPU, memory, motherboard and cooling.
5 min read
DDR5 for a modern PC: capacity, speed and timings without the confusion
What MT/s and timings mean, how EXPO differs from a baseline mode, and why memory selection should start with the workload.
5 min read
The October DLSS update: a faster model does not mean double the game FPS
NVIDIA is updating neural graphics and frame generation. How to interpret claims about performance, image quality and game support.
5 min read
Hard drives are still evolving: what HAMR changes, and why SSDs have not replaced HDDs
A practical look at magnetic recording density, high-capacity enterprise drives and the role of a hard disk in a home archive.
5 min read